RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           21 December 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2004106343


      I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record
of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in
the case of the above-named individual.

|     |Mr. Carl W. S. Chun               |     |Director             |
|     |Mrs. Nancy L. Amos                |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Fred N. Eichorn               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Paul M. Smith                 |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Seema E. Salter               |     |Member               |

      The Board considered the following evidence:

      Exhibit A - Application for correction of military records.

      Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including advisory opinion,
if any).

THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests reconsideration of his earlier request for award
of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states that he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal by
Secretary of the Army Marsh for being in ground combat.  He questions how
his injury could have been non-battle and asks the question, "Since when is
a mine field (enemy) not a combat zone?"  He states it all happened the
night of 8 November 1943, in Italy, in a minefield.

3.  The applicant provides his Bronze Star Medal certificate; an excerpt
from     an unknown document regarding the Purple Heart; a copy of what
appears to   be a book cover entitled, The 34th Infantry Division; an
Office of The Surgeon General Hospital Admission Card; a Radiologic
consultation Request/Report dated 30 March 1989; a General Services
Administration Form 7093 (Reply to Inquiry (NCP)); and the Board's 27
February 2004 letter to him.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were
summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the
Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AC84-
07310 on       23 April 1986.

2.  The applicant’s military records are not  available  to  the  Board  for
review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members’  records
at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  It is believed  that  the
applicant’s records were lost or destroyed in  that  fire.   However,  there
were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record for the  Board
to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

3.  The documents provided by the applicant are new evidence which will be
considered by the Board.

4.  The applicant served in the Army of the United States from 1 February
1943 to 9 November 1945.  His separation document is not currently
available; however, he apparently served as an infantryman and had been
awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

5.  On 9 November 1943, the morning report records of his unit showed that
the applicant went from duty to absent because of being sick in the line of
duty.  The condition from which he suffered was not shown in the available
records.  There was no indication he was wounded as a result of hostile
action.

6.  The Office of The Surgeon General Hospital Admission Card provided by
the applicant shows that he was hospitalized in January 1945 in Italy for a
sprain of the knee.  The causative agent of the injury is not listed on the
Card.

7.  On 28 June 1983, the applicant was issued a Bronze Star Medal
certificate for meritorious service in ground combat in the European
Theater of operations during World War II.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states that the Purple Heart
is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action.
Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the
result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by a
medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of
official record.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for the award of the Bronze Star
Medal to any person who distinguished himself or herself by heroic or
meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial
flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy.  It
also provides for award of the Bronze Star Medal to members of the armed
forces who, after 6 December 1941 and prior to 3 September 1945, have been
cited in orders or in a formal certificate for meritorious or exemplary
conduct in ground combat against the armed enemy.  A citation in orders for
the Combat Infantryman Badge or Medical Badge awarded in the field during
the period of actual combat against the armed enemy is considered as a
citation for exemplary conduct in ground combat.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's contentions and the evidence he provided have been
carefully considered.  Unfortunately, there is still insufficient evidence
to substantiate that his injury was the result of hostile action or that
his being in an enemy minefield resulted in his injury.

2.  Contemporaneous documents (i.e., the morning report entry and the
Office of The Surgeon General Hospital Admission Card) failed to
substantiate the applicant's contention that he was injured while in an
enemy minefield.

3.  The Board does not doubt that the applicant served in ground combat.
It appears he had been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and was awarded
the Bronze Star Medal based on his award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.
Regrettably, however, those awards do not verify that he was injured while
in combat.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___fne__  __pms___  __ses___  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable
error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board determined that the overall
merits of this case are insufficient as a basis to amend the decision of
the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AC84-07310 dated 23 April 1986.




            ___Fred N. Eichorn____
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004106343                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20041221                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Chun                                |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.0015                                |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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